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Position of body when hitting from base

What is prefered position of body in relation to net when hitting overhead shots?

I find that keeping body perpendicular to net like Poul Erik, Yang yang or Dai yun reqiures economical footsteps and more accurate strokes as eyes are kept on bird but I can never see
where my opponents are and many times hit into the wrong places.

Keeping body at 45 degrees allows me to see opponents more
but I tend to make more mistakes in terms of accuracy as my eyes are not fully focussed on bird but partly on opponent.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

Try doing this, keep an eye on your opponent when you've just hit the shuttle to see where he goes and how easy or hard it is he plays a return shot. It is easier to anticipate what kind of shot you opponent is going to do from his body movement and also it can probably tell you what shot you should play next to make it tough for him to reach the shuttke. And as soon as he hits the shuttle, lock your eye on the shuttle. You should be able to know what shot you must play by then already.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

What I really want to learn is how much attention does one divide between hitting the shuttle and also watchingwhere your opponent is positioned when returning a high serve or lob at base.

It is quite easy to see the opposite court and opponents when hitting shots from forecourt but not when the shuttle is near baseline at a height.

I ask this because many times in doubles play, players make the mistake of hitting a drop-shot when they are unaware that
the opponent may be crouching nr net and waiting.It is even worse when you are hitiing a backhand with your back towards opponents.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

ok lets get this straight... the game is a doubles game... your opponent lifts and you don't know if one of them is crouching down at the front of the net? well... that's confusing, because if they lift, they really should be on the defensive position, that is side by side and not front to back. So my advice, is just drop it down to the side line and make sure your partner runs up to the T to cover the net while you stay at the back, if that person receives your dropshot by lifting again then just whack it down right at him or down the middle and you cover the back.

Perhaps you don't know about the doubles offensive and defensive position?

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

Bbn defiantely knows about the doubles game.

I think that the opponents are very experienced and are able to predict what shot he is about to play from certain court situations..

Could play cross court/straight clears occasionally.
Have to drop to sides occasionally.
Have to improve footwork. Getting to shuttle earlier means more options available and opponents cannot anticipate.

Difficult if your opponents have years of experience. Must be a wealth of badminton knowledge in that group.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

Thanks Cheung.Offensive/defensive position cannot be maintained all the time. It's those periods which are neither
which are difficult.You'll find players like tony gunawan for eg.in
many unuual positions waiting for you.

The eg. about partner crouching at net is just an eg.When you play singles your opponent may have certain prefered positions
and it would be a big help if you notice it quickly and say try to
drop him when he stays too far back because he's afraid of your smash .

The thing that I would like to find out is to what extent one keeps an eye on opponent when hitting from base or does one just merely do it from memory ,instinct or guesswork.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

This might be a question for the professionals.
I don't think that I am good enough to be able to concentrate on hitting the shuttle and watch the opponent too much at the same time.

I mentioned before about closing down one area of the court.
The other thing is predictability. By nature, people will play certain shots under certain conditions. You may be doing this unconciously thereby letting your opponent know your intentions, even if he is very far away from reaching that shot. He may actually take up a particular court position/stroke to force certain shots from you.

An obvious example described is Han Jian's winning point against Liem Swee King in Thomas Cup 82 (from his book). He deliberately served low to Liem's backhand knowing the most probable response would be net shot and ran in to knock it off the net.

Another would be playing a tight net shot and standing close to the net forcing the lift form the opponent.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

During the game when returning a high clear in baseline I don't look where my opponent is. I have to believe in my ability to hit the shuttle in a way that make his anticipation difficult. If you look at your opponent before the hit I'm afraid that you may not hit the shuttle with full efficiency.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

well... regarding the dropshot, since you're afraid that your opponent might be standing close to the net and knock it down when he/she sees you doing a dropshot... ever thought of faking the dropshot to destroy his timing by a bit? that way, chances of your opponent knocking down the dropshot would be quite slim.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

Cheung, I agree with your points. This same question as Bbn is asking, I have asked my coach before and he said the player have simply to focus on his stroke.

If you hit and the opponent happen to be in the place where you sent the shuttle to it might be coincidence. But if it happens 2 times then you have to be cautious. As an example, he mentioned his matches against another very famous Chinese player Fang Kai Chang - Fang serves very high and deep. After serving he moves towards the back, but when the shuttle starts the descending trajectory he begins moving forward and prepare to attack the net. Reason is receiver sees him going backwards and goes for the drop and falls into Fang's trap. That's why he mentioned to focus on the shot placement and let your opponent worry/guess where you want to send the shuttle to.

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

Agreed that you should always keep your eyes on the shuttle. You usually know where the opponent is gonna be, coz as players you will try to get back into the ready position after your stroke (before your opponent hits a return).

If your opponent is seems to be always in the right place for your returns, you might want to consider varying your shots or your opponent is forcing you to play an expected shot or you alway play that shot when in certain situations.

In my club because you sometimes play against the same people time and time again, you ended up with a pretty good idea of how the opponent is going to play a certain shot so you are better prepared for it.

One thing that I found from playing shots at the back is to vary your shots. If you are going to drop, you better have very good footwork to be able to get to the return if you place the drop at the wrong place. Obviously if you want to be safe than sorry, then a clear to the back is probably the safest course of action (but this means that you are playing a defensive game).

Re: Position of body when hitting from base

Not sur about the advice to keep your eyes on the shuttle, If we are talking about returning a lofted shot then I see no reason to track the shuttles all the way with your eyes. I advise taking very quick glances at the oposition whilst the shuttle is in flight to see what positions they have adopted.